Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Rapid-Fire Reviews, Pt. I

Scene music writer D.X. Ferris tries to review 10 recent LPs in 200 words. The Scene Legal Department firmly asserts this idea has not been ripped off from an old Bob Costas bit. (It was, in fact, swiped from Brent Musberger.)
Sonic Youth, Rather Ripped (Geffen): Rather poopy. Being Sonic Youth's best album in years don't mean it's good. Rating: 6 out of 10, including 3 sympathy points because 1994's Washing Machine was so underrated.
Los Natas, El Hombre Monta�a (Small Stone): How do you say "Into the Void" in Spanish? Los Natas. Sabbathy riffing, lyrics en Espa�ol. 7/10 (9/10 if you're baked).
DJ Starscream, The New Leader (N20): Slipknot DJ Sid "#0" Wilson proves not only that jungle lives, but never deserved to live in the first place. 6/10, because a little jungle goes a long way.*
Teeth of the Hydra, Greenland (Tee Pee): Doesn't sound quite as evil as it should, but it's quality thrash-kissed doom-sludge, with big, sharp, hull-piercing chunks of ice floating through it. Plus, the artwork (tall ships vs. giant sea beasts) is cool, and there's nifty conceptual stuff going on -- see "Sawing Through the Ice": "Wotanic beasts bathe in whales' blood/Fishing beneath the bridge of mortal fear/What made you think/You would live where the old ones disappeared? Heimdall is drowning," shouts Matt Miner, who's billed as delivering "axe and throat." Hoist some mead to these faux-Nordic fellas; this disc gets a little better every time we listen. 8/10 and climbing.
* Great Caesar's Ghost, does the first Slipknot album hold up well -- especially if you cut out the filler tracks and resequence the disc so's it starts with "Surfacing." -- D.X. Ferris